T he chase for Parvathy’s interview begins in Rameswaram and ends in Hyderabad. Cherry-picking roles has helped the actress to get some juicy ones in for the last two years. From the dust pans of Rameswaram, where she was shooting with Dulquer Salmaan for a song sequence in Martin Prakkat’s Charlie , she moved to Hyderabad, to the sets of the Tamil remake of Anjali Menon’s Bangalore Days , where she is reprising her role in the Malayalam original.
In the meantime, Ennu Ninte Moideen (ENM), R. S. Vimal’s cinematic adaptation of the story of Kanchanamala and Moideen, releases this week. Parvathy talks about playing Kanchanamala and the demands of characters that push the envelope in more ways than one. Excerpts from an interview over the phone:
You look buxom in the song sequences ofEnnu Ninte Moideen, a very different look from your previous characters…
I have never looked like this before. I enjoy being fit. Like most actors, I have my personal trainer to work out. As an actor, my body is my tool to flesh out the roles I play. So my hands and legs and my body must be polished and fit. I don’t believe in looking like a mannequin. I like my bulges and love handles but fitness is important for me. In the case of ENM, Vimal wanted me to put on some weight as I had to play 18-year-old Kanchanamala and then a middle-aged one as well. I had about four months before the shooting began for the film and so I stopped working out. I put on 12 kg for the role. Although by then I was working for Uttama Villain (UV), Ramesh Aravind, director of the movie, did not want me to change physically to enact Manonmani, my character in UV. So then there were no issues at all.
But Anjali and I had this conversation before we began the shooting of Bangalore Days . She told me that my character, Sarah, who is disabled, would not have an hour-glass figure and a tight tummy. On the other hand, she would have a well-developed upper torso and arms. Then I stopped working out as I usually do and did exercises to develop my arms without bulking it up with muscles. Of course, not all characters demand such physical changes.
So how was it like to play a real-life character like Kanchanamala and also tackle a span of 20-30 years into the time frame of a film?
I discovered that there was no difference between playing a real-life character and a fictional one. I did meet Kanchana chechi a couple of times but I did not probe into her life. Since Vimal had taken five solid years to write the script, I knew that her life would have been probed by him. Vimal had five hard bound books of script and I could find all my answers there. My character was in those pages and that was how my Kanchanamala was shaped. In addition, I have learnt that before playing a character, fictional or real-life, one would have to jettison all of one’s perspectives and judgements about a character and approach it with a fresh outlook of the director and the script.
This was a role that I fleshed out with the help of the director and script. Usually I sit with the director and clear my doubts as to why my character said that or did that. But this time, Vimal had all the answers for my questions in his script.
So shaping a character depends on the script?
It depends, to a large extent, on the film and the director. In the case of Charlie , Martin chettan and scenarist Unni chettan enjoy improvising during the shooting. They were open to the idea of changing the scenes as and when it was needed. It was quite challenging to move from being Kanchanamala to Tessa. The movie is a complete entertainer. Anjali’s style was different. We had a bound script but during the shooting, she would introduce certain scenes. She wanted me to trust her as a director and lean on her and it worked out splendidly. Working with each of them was interesting.
The songs of ENM are making waves…
The songs are just amazing. Shreya [Ghoshal] is such a blessed person. Listening to her, you would never guess she is not a Malayali. I have tremendous respect for her hard work and dedication.
Some have a flair for languages…
So people say. But I know how difficult it is to learn languages since I am working in three regional industries in South India and unless the director wants my voice to be dubbed, I do my own dubbing. Shreya makes it look so easy! I have great respect for voice acting because artistes like Bhagyalakshmi chechi have taken it to a different level. Dubbing can cover up many mistakes that an actor might make. Dubbing has many advantages but I still maintain that in-sync sound gives a different feel to the movie.
Working with Prithviraj and Dulquer
Prithviraj is knowledgeable about all the departments of filmmaking and has really studied cinema. He is part of the team and is always willing to go that extra mile for the movie. I respect him for his commitment and involvement.
Charlie is my second film with Dulquer. You are so relieved to see male actors like them. There are no starry tantrums and both of them value the time and money of the producer and the team. They make an effort to be grounded and real and are aware that there is a real world out there.
Reprising roles
As of now, I don’t think I will ever reprise another character of mine. Remakes, within reason, would be fine.
